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WHO WE ARE:

Sticky Rice Club is an economic and community development nonprofit that aims to strengthen neighborhood resilience in Oakland and in the East Bay through the activation of public spaces, cultural events, mindfulness + healing workshops, transformative arts, and community initiatives that promote: compassion, mindfulness practices, intergenerational connection, community safety, neighborhood solidarity, and cultural preservation

MISSION STATEMENT:

We aim to heal our neighborhoods in Oakland and in the East Bay through principles of compassion, collectivism, solidarity and prefigurative activism. Through: 1) commercial and public space activation, 2) mindfulness/healing-focused workshops and retreats, 3) support of cultural events, local artists and cultural practitioners, 4) merchant organizing + collective ownership; we aim to support working-class merchants, residents, and community members, artist and cultural practitioners to build neighborhood resilience and economic staying power in the face of trauma, gentrification, displacement, and cultural erasure, while also building towards a more inclusive, intergenerational, and intercultural neighborhood grounded in equality (social and economic), mutual aid, compassion, community safety and solidarity.

Why we do the work

As a foundational basis for our work, we are driven by how we can create accessible and inclusive spaces for self and community transformation – in which opportunities to gather and heal on an individual and communal level can intentionally and safely arise – while also developing and implementing equitable economic models and a sense of community that we want to see in our neighborhoods. This intersection of transformative arts, restorative economics and healing justice is where we feel our work is most meaningful and impactful. Through this lens, we aim to collectively work towards building neighborhoods that are rooted in generosity, abundance, mindfulness, and care for one another.

LANTERN FESTIVAL 2024 PARTICIPANTS, PERFORMERS, AND ORGANIZERS

Community Shared Spaces

We support the activation of vacant and underutilized commercial properties to develop opportunities for local food entrepreneurs, artists, organizers and healing practitioners. Through these spaces, we aim create hubs that support our communities through mutual aid and collective care.

Transformative Arts/Murals

We work with local artists and connect them to local merchants, organizations, community centers, and property owners towards the goal of 1) facilitating deeper intergenerational relationships, and 2) creating murals that share cultural stories and themes of community resiliency, compassion, abundance, and generosity.

Healing Workshops/Retreats

We host healing workshops/retreats through our “Compassion Centered Communities” initiative. They aim to support: physical and mental recovery (movement and mindfulness), and individual and collective transformation. They are designed with a focus on accessibility.

Cultural Celebrations/Festivals

We host, sponsor, and support cultural festivals and events for diaspora communities and surrounding neighborhoods in the East Bay. Through these events, we aim to create spaces for healing, cultural celebration, community safety, and cultural understanding and reconnection.

Sticky Rice Club

in East Bay Neighborhoods:

Merchant Organizing in Oakland Chinatown

Monthly meetings with local merchants to identify and discuss issues across: community safety, infrastructure, etc. that are impacting businesses and community members in Chinatown

Wellness Fund for Cultural Practitioners in Greater Oakland

An annual wellness and emergency mutual aid fund to help support cultural practitioners and members in Oakland

Supporting Cultural Events for Diaspora Communities in the East Bay

ABOVE: The Tibetan Chotrul Monlam Festival 2025 at Richmond Memorial Auditorium

The Monlam Prayer Festival is a pivotal event in Tibetan Buddhism, celebrated annually to pray for world peace and the well-being of all beings. Over the three-day period, several thousand Tibetans and allies sat on the Richmond Auditorium floor while 50 to 60 monks and nuns led prayer.

Transforming Storefronts Through Art Murals

ABOVE: Toisan Legend of Five Goat Immortals at Ming’s Tasty in Oakland Chinatown

During a time of famine in Guangzhou, Five Immortals came to the lands, riding on five different colored goats—one red, one yellow, one white, one purple/black, and one green. Each goat carried a rice stalk in their mouth, along with a bounty of rice stalks to bless the area. The goats eventually turned to stone and are now honored along with the Five Immortals Daoist Temple as a remembrance of eternal abundance